


Hazy Dizzy Rhapsody

by katouis



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Titans (Shingeki no Kyojin), F/F, I wanted to do a soap opera but this is first, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Isayama hurts me so I hurt his characters, no beta read we die like carla jaeger, not really angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29974626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katouis/pseuds/katouis
Summary: Codeoin's age is starting when Annie just wants to go home, Hitch knows everyone,Reiner doesn't understand lesbians, Armin gets lost in his dreams and Mikasa faces the real world—without Eren, to her horror.
Relationships: Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Hazy Dizzy Rhapsody

**Author's Note:**

> This is just for fun, nothing to be too critical about. Also, I can write english theoretically, not practically. If you want to gouge your eyes out after reading this, that sounds like a personal problem.

As the sun is at its lowest point, the windows faintly reflect the violet hues of the sky. Raindrops crash against them, engaging in a race until the surface runs out.

This rainy season is undoubtedly the worst in years—something like that she has been hearing, though she can't remember if it’s Hitch complaining or the newscast's meteorologist trying to promote umbrellas. _Bah_. At the end of the day, the sources don't really matter, no one has to squeeze their eyes too hard to realize that Paradi’s people are not used to the rain falling incessantly and taking over roofs, facades, cars, buses and even pedestrians.

It's a slightly funny scene. People flee the rain as if it was going to melt them, _as if they were superior to mother nature_ , running under their bags, taking cover in restaurants, shops or cafes, and even uselessly trying to cover themselves under their hands.

They must think she's crazy, walking quietly with her hands in her pockets like she’s enjoying a field day. 

It's not that she doesn't give a damn about getting wet—well, to be honest, that’s partly true, is just water—, it's that the weather might— _just might_ — remind her a bit of home. _Ah, home_. 

In Marley she had lived thousands of nights like this, being hit by the cold, damp air of dusk. 

Sometimes her train of thought takes her there, to that place on the other side of the ocean where she _belongs_. It is a tricky thought, ‘cause it makes her wonder what it would be like to leave it all together in that horrible spicy sun of Paradis, and just go back to sit in front of the fireplace with her dad. Going back to be the girl who only runs through the trees and watches the world go by in the distance.

"Tsk" Annie huffs.

Then again, that thought only comes _sometimes._ She knows everything too damn well to be fooled like that, she must not get carried away by useless thoughts that idealize a place she cannot return to, at least not for now. She has things to do, and until she’s done, she can't go back. It’s a responsibility greater than any desire to sit in front of the fireplace with the only person she loves. So, for now...

For now, she must settle for what she has. Even if that includes having to soak in the smell of lavender that floods the entrance to the dorm, and perhaps having to put up with the two men sitting by her door like stray dogs.

"Annie" Reiner gets up immediately, his face grimacing, "You're wet"

"What a surprise" she mutters, turning her back to them to unlock the door.

As she steps onto the blue carpet, they are greeted by the unmistakable smell of fast food. A mixture of potato chips and cheddar cheese. Annie rubs her temples as soon as she sees the cardboard bag in the trash. No matter how many times she asks Hitch to open the window after eating, she never will. Not because she forgets, but because Hitch would never sleep well if she gave Annie a bit of satisfaction.

“You'll have to wait" Reiner's voice rises behind her. The words are not for 

her, but to Bertholdt, who seems to be about to die at any moment. Without invitation, the two of them had entered as if it was their own.

"What?"

The blonde runs his hand through his hair, "Bert won a coke drinking contest before getting here" he takes a quick look at his best friend, and as if it is going to help in something, he adds, “Five cans in three minutes”

She sighs, "Natural selection works very slow”

That comment doesn't seem to be absorbed into the brains of those two excuses of a man, who just blink as if what had come out of her mouth made no sense. 

“So, can I use your–”

Annie closes her eyes and exhales, "Go ahead"

Without thinking twice, Bertholdt takes three long strides toward the white door at the side of the bunk bed. It is almost humiliating how his height makes the room look small. More than it already is. 

"So you came back" Reiner changes the topic, pretending to entertain himself with the posters on the walls as she takes off her hoodie. 

"No shit, Sherlock" it’s her tone that makes Reiner look at her again, this time frowning. 

"There's no need for you to get like that. Last term you said you didn't know if you would come back, so I didn’t think I would be seeing you again as another piece of furniture in this cave, that's all”

As much as the mocking tone begs her to kick Reiner out of the room, she can't. It would be unfair. He isn’t lying. He knew her better than anyone, after all. In the academy she didn’t leave the room unless it was mandatory, and her habits haven’t changed in Paradis. She is aware that she can already be sold at Ikea as another part of room decoration.

_Discount 2X1: Buy a chair and take a young adult who definitely doesn’t want to be here._

She hums, sitting in the desk chair "I guess you like to see me again, but you're not exactly happy”

"No, I’m not" he growls wearily, "You didn't speak to me in all this time. There's something called manners, you know? You make small talk, ask someone how they are"

Annie sighs, "I think you and I are beyond that”

Not even the flushing toilet distracts her from Reiner's eyes, the same hazel eyes that years ago illustrated an intense desire to prove himself _to himself_ day after day. Now, after those torturous years in the academy, show his desire to prove himself _to others._

It isn’t a complete surprise, Reiner's wish was always to be recognized. Recognized by his parents, their commanders and even by his own friends. She doesn’t condemn him for that, but she does curse the day when recognition was no longer won by whoever was stronger, smarter or faster, but by whoever could easily get into people. That’s easy for him. After all, Reiner is just a people pleaser, an idiot with too much power.

"I don't need to ask you how you are to know how you are. You are always miserable"

He crosses his arms across his chest, "You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

Annie shrugs, turning her gaze to Bert, now flushed red with embarrassment. _Ah_ , his greatest burden, self consciousness. An old trick. 

The first time she saw Bertholdt she thought that he was simply shy or that maybe he was embarrassed to talk to girls—still thinks she's right about that, he can rarely give her a few words. Weird—, but later she realized that he’s… he’s just the way he is. Unable to think for himself. 

Something about his personality makes sense, though: If he follows someone else's actions, he won’t bear the sense of making a mistake of his own. It’s a safe place. It’s a shame, though. He has a lot to offer, things that no one will ever see if he continues to have fun in Reiner’s shadow 

_Meh_ , that’s none of her business. 

"I've heard that before," she acknowledges, running her fingers across the light wood of her desk, seeking to distract herself from the situation. As much as she is used to their presence, what she really wants is to lie on the bed and listen to music. Alone. "So?"

"What?" he raises an eyebrow. 

"There's no need to lie. I know you're not here just to check on how I'm doing"

Bert looks at Reiner nervously, but he just shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips, “Well, you win. But for the record, I did want to know if you came back.”

“You could have texted me"

Reiner snorts, "Would you have answered?"

There is a second of silence between them, like a cloak that prevents them from speaking but forces them to be together. Finally, she looks away from him.

“How many do you want?”

"Eh,” he caresses the back of his neck, “The black one is 20 bucks”.

Annie sighs, resigning herself to getting up to the pink backpack that rests on the side of the desk. She is not the healthiest person in the world, she’s far from being it, but at least she doesn’t consume that kind of thing. Can't say the same for Reiner.

The truth is, she never imagined meeting Reiner at the university. Or see him again in her life, really. She thought that by moving to Paradis she would never see a Warrior again. But since naturally her life was a joke, Reiner happened to sit next to her in one of her introductory classes. And surprisingly, — _cough_ —, Bertholdt was his roommate.

"Where were you, anyway?" Reiner asks, watching her look into the contents of the backpack. He doesn't use the condescending tone of voice, much less does he seem to do it to tease, it's his real voice. His stupid older brother instinct, “Not in the cafeteria, I’m sure”

"That's none of your business"

He seems to take it as a guessing request, "You finally got more friends? An enemy to tease? Maybe a boyfriend?"

Bertholdt inhales in horror, as if the last option is the end of the world, but neither of them say anything about it because she finally finds the little black bag, tangled up in an expensive class book.

"Take it and go" she stretches it towards Reiner. Feeling the weight of the bag in her hand, she realizes that she didn't miss doing Hitch's job at all.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you" he says, placing the bill on the desk. 

“You could ask anyone else, you know?"

“And miss the opportunity to see if you finally found what to do with your life? No"

That is the last straw.

"Get out"


End file.
